Tracey McKee

Promotional image. Text reads: 2026-27 research funding apply now

Our new Physicians' Collections Research Grant provides funding, space and research support.

Find out more and apply 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/education/ph...

table 1 extract from Guest, O., & van Rooij, I. (2025, October 4). Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacy for Psychologists. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

5 Ghostwriter in the Machine A unique selling point of these systems is conversing and writing in a human-like way. This is imminently understandable, although wrong-headed, when one realises these are systems that essentially function as lossy2 content-addressable memory: when input is given, the output generated by the model is text that stochastically matches the input text. The reason text at the output looks novel is because by design the AI product performs an automated version of what is known as mosaic or patchwork plagiarism (Baždarić, 2013) — due to the nature of input masking and next token prediction, the output essentially uses similar words in similar orders to what it has been exposed to. This makes the automated flagging of plagiarism unlikely, which is also true when students or colleagues perform this type of copypaste and then thesaurus trick, and true when so-called AI plagiarism detectors falsely claim to detect AI-produced text (Edwards, 2023a). This aspect of LLM-based AI products can be seen as an automation of plagiarism and especially of the research paper mill (Guest, 2025; Guest, Suarez, et al., 2025; van Rooij, 2022): the “churn[ing] out [of] fake or poor-quality journal papers” (Sanderson, 2024; Committee on Publication Ethics,

In addition, who is held accountable if nobody with intent authored the text? Because while the original data fed into the system is certainly written with goals, messages, and audiences in mind jumbling this into ad-libbed word salad removes authorial intent (Bender et al., 2021). So do the companies who own the chatbot own the text or do the original authors? These questions denote legal battles, which are being currently fought in the public eye and which affect all of us in all roles, not just as academics (Creamer, 2025; Knibbs, 2024; Reuters, 2025). Either way, even if the courts decide in the favour of companies, we should not allow these companies with vested interests to write our papers (Fisher et al., 2025), or to filter what we include in our papers. Because it is not the case that we only operate based on legal precedents, but also on our own ethical values and scientific integrity codes (ALLEA, 2023; KNAW et al., 2018), and we have a direct duty to protect, as with previous crises and in general, the literature from pollution. In other words, the same issues as in previous sections play out here, where essentially now every paper produced using chatbot output must declare a conflict of interest, since the output text can be biased in subtle or direct ways by the company who owns the bot (see Table 2). Seen in the right light — AI products understood as contentaddressable systems — we see that framing the user, the academic in this case, as the creator of the bot’s output is misplaced. The input does not cause the output in an authorial sense, much like input to a library search engine does not cause relevant articles and books to be written (Guest, 2025). The respective authors wrote those, not the search query!

Third, the peculiar idea that somehow we don't need to read, write, or perform literature reviews anymore; popping up like a satanic mushroom in almost all so-called OK uses of LLMs.

Companies writing our papers via their chatbots is not scientific at all. See section 5: doi.org/10.31234/osf...

7/

Wouldn’t have made it out of the VEEP writers room

Dr Vanessa Saliba, Consultant Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: 'Infections can return quickly when childhood vaccine uptake falls; elimination is only possible if all children receive two MMRV doses before school. Older children and adults who missed vaccination must be caught up. The NHS is making vaccination easier, including offering the second MMRV dose earlier at a new 18-month appointment to boost uptake and support elimination goals.'

UKHSA responds to the confirmation from @WHO that the UK has lost its measles elimination status.

Read more from WHO here: https://bit.ly/3YZuOFa

David Lynch in the filming set speaking in the megaphone. He says “Okay, let's try that again, but this time good.”

Here’s to 2026

Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?

Strengthening authorship transparency for letters to the editor Click on the article title to read more.

Another journal taking action due to GenAI being used to write letters to the editor. #UKMedLibs

Graphic showing flu virus icons with a warning light and snowflake, advising awareness of flu symptoms and safety measures during winter.

With case numbers for flu still increasing, we're continuing to encourage those who are eligible to come forward to receive their flu vaccine to help protect themselves and their loved ones.

More info 🔽
https://ow.ly/C9Ij50Xyzmn

Latest flu data here 🔽
https://ow.ly/UShK50Xyzmo

More than half of UK novelists believe AI will replace their work A new study by the University of Cambridge found many authors’ work has already been used – without their permission – to train large language models

Absolutely dire state of affairs.

Department of Justice chatbots mislead people seeking information Irish Department of Justice internalises the AI hype and takes no responsibility for misleading chatbots.

Our investigation into Irish Department of Justice use of chatbots. The department hides behind disclaimers while deploying misleading chatbots.

@iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social

www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...

The Editor Got a Letter From ‘Dr. B.S.’ So Did a Lot of Other Editors.

AI letters are flooding the medical literature. (gift link)

Thanks, Altman.

A set of amputation tools in a wooden case lined with red velvet. 5 steel Liston knives are lined up next to each other in the back section of the case.

Scottish surgeon Robert Liston, was born #onthisday 1794. He was renowned for his speed and dexterity when performing amputations. This was in part due to the instruments he used several of which he designed himself. His long, sharp Liston knives were a staple of 19th century amputation sets.

psychosisresearch.info/artificial-i...

There is some enthusiasm locally for using large language models (LLMs) to create more diverse patient and public involvement in clinical research - given PPI is hard to do. We at @psychosisresearch.bsky.social have some concerns we have summarised here.

This is located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, close to Fullerton and Sheffield. It's a densely populated area near DePaul University. I'm pleased to see the community standing up against these despicable individuals.

Border patrol agents deployed tear gas on the 3700 block of North Kildare where residents say a landscape worker, a resident, and a woman on a bike were detained. Video from a resident.

Panel 1 A figure lies on a lounger as a hot, orange sun sets, saying "The holiday's over." Panel 2 Now wheeling a suitcase towards a plane in warm eveniong light "It's nice to sit around in the sun reading all day." Panel 3 The plane rises amongst the clouds "But all good things must come to an end." Panel 4 The figure deplanes with the suitcase in drizzle "Coming home has its own pleasures." Panel 5 The rain is harder. The figure shelter under an umbrella and looks into a shop window containing a selection of books and a sign reading "New books for autumn!" Panel 6 The figure now sits at home by an open fire, happily reading a new book. The suitcase has not yet been unpacked.

My cartoon for the @theguardian.com books autumn reads special.

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me? Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

THREAD: v niche sport-based plea!

The N.U.T.S. (National Union of Track Statisticians) Athletics & Olympic Archive & Library will be evicted from its current premises in ten days, and urgently needs either a) a permanent home or b) temp storage.

Croydon area preferred but all offers welcome. (1/4)

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:

Our funding depends on usage.

So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

Your regular reminder that librarians and statisticians are natural allies in the medical research ecosystem.

It’s legendary, but is our music scene out of tune? A pulse check on Glasgow’s grassroots venues

Glasgow’s nightlife is in the “worst state it has been in since 1979”.

That’s according to the man behind one of Scotland’s biggest gig promoters, PCL Presents. He also owns Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh, and Broadcast.

How to read a paper involving artificial intelligence (AI) by Paul Dijkstra et al

Reading a research paper that involves using AI in clinical settings?

This article has questions to help you critically appraise AI papers:
bmjmedicine.bmj.com/content/4/1/...

Health research in England is grinding to a halt Wes Streeting, the UK health and social care secretary, announced in 2024 that “the NHS is broken” against a background of ballooning waiting lists, delays in disease detection, and reduced staff prod...

New comment piece by me & colleagues in @bmj.com on the using health data for research in UK

Processes are so complex and so slow now that less research is happening and we are wasting the enormous potential of the NHS to drive innovation

www.bmj.com/content/390/...

‘It feels an almost holy moment’: the beauty and magic of reading aloud to children Bedside reading is a quietly magical time, says author Horatio Clare, bridging the gulf between childhood and the adult world

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

The Misleading Panic over Misinformation People can’t agree on how to define misinformation and its related terms, making regulation nearly impossible. Instead, free expression serves as a better tool for discovering truth.

🧵 THREAD: Why the Cato Institute’s new paper on “misinformation panic” is dangerously wrong, and why it completely misunderstands the real crisis we face.
www.cato.org/policy-analy...

AI Killed My Job: Tech workers Tech workers at TikTok, Google, and across the industry share stories about how AI is changing, ruining, or replacing their jobs.

AI is being used to justify firing workers at major tech companies, leaving those that remain to pick up the pieces.

AI code is being shoveled into crucial Google products, replacing trainers at TikTok, and worse.

This, in tech workers' own words, is how AI is killing jobs in Silicon Valley.

Useful read. "The hope for AI enabled care rests on three flawed assumptions: universal digital access, algorithmic neutrality, and technological sufficiency." Issue highlighted around focus on individualised over population level prevention

I’m working with @glasgowbell.bsky.social this week and on my way to Paisley for a rally about proposed redundancies at UWS. If you’re staff or a student who’ll be there and want to chat - or if you want to catch up separately - give me a DM. You can be anonymous!

Cyber incident June 2025

Glasgow City Council is currently being impacted by a cyber incident which is disrupting a number of online services and which may have involved the theft of customer data.

Read more here: glasgow.gov.uk/serviceimpact